The 4 biggest takeaways from election night results in Tacoma and Pierce County | Opinion
Editor’s note: This column — based on initial Pierce County election results — was published at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. For the most up-to-date results from Tacoma and Pierce County, click here.
Of note: In the Tacoma City Council Pos. 7 race included in this piece, Olgy Diaz led Kristen Wynne by more than 400 votes based on election results released Wednesday evening. On election night, Diaz trailed by fewer than 200 votes.
The leaders in all other contests included in the original column were the same after Wednesday’s results were released.
The margins of separation have changed slightly.
Next year will mark my ninth at The News Tribune, not that anyone is counting — besides me.
I’ve covered a lot of general elections during that run. All of them, in fact. I’ve pounded out words from real-live newsrooms full of journalists running on pizza, caffeine and adrenaline and offered my thoughts while sequestered at home, during the isolation of COVID-19.
I’ve seen new mayors elected, incumbent mayors reelected and the dreams of hopeful candidates dashed — with one refresh of a website. I’ve documented the highest of political highs and the lowest of lows, human emotion and all.
I once filed from the parking lot of the Tacoma Elks club. Thankfully it wasn’t raining.
In 2016, I watched the electoral chips fall in Donald Trump’s favor, though if I’m being honest, the reality didn’t hit me until the next morning when Hillary Clinton delivered her concession. These were simpler times.
One thing I can say for certain?
As far as local elections go, the 2023 general offered more intrigue than most — particularly for an off-year.
Voters across Tacoma and Pierce County were tasked with making decisions with the potential to shape our lives for years to come in profound ways.
When the dust settles, it all rides on the bubbles — and which ones get filled in.
Call it democracy in action.
Tacoma City Council District 3
Voters in Tacoma’s District 3 — which includes Hilltop, Central Tacoma and parts of South Tacoma — were presented with two options. That’s standard, of course, but the choices were notably stark.
Jamika Scott, a community organizer and artist who rose to local prominence through her social justice work as part of the Tacoma Action Collective, campaigned as a voice of the people. With the street cred and battle scars to pull it off, her candidacy was designed to shake up the status quo. Given the current state of the city, it was a message with potential to resonate.
Chris Van Vechten, a local attorney who has been involved with local progressive politics for years, served as a contrast. Drawing on his background as a cog in the local criminal justice system, and in particular his experiences as a criminal defense attorney, Van Vechten sought to appeal to voters’ frustrations and their thirst for new approaches, melding liberal values and human compassion with the urgent need to address unavoidable problems, including homelessness, a lack of affordable housing and recent increases in crime.
If election night results hold firm, it’s Scott who will emerge with a political mandate — earning the right to succeed Keith Blocker, who departs after eight years on the council.
Scott captured 51.68% of the initial ballot drop to Van Vechten’s 47.53%.
Barring a late Van Vechten surge — which isn’t an outlandish proposition, considering fewer than 200 votes separate the two candidates — she will now have the chance to deliver on her promises.
A Scott victory would hardly come as a shock, no matter how you describe her. In many Tacoma political circles, Tuesday night’s results were expected. If anything, the vote tally was closer than some projected.
The definition of a political outsider — which is part of the appeal for fed-up voters — Scott was also endorsed by a who’s-who list of powerful Tacoma super progressives, including state Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins, state senators T’wina Nobles and Yasmin Trudeau and Pierce County Council chair Ryan Mello.
In other words, Scott’s run wasn’t just a statement of defiance; it was legit, buoyed by a long track record of doing the work.
Election night returns served as validation of her approach.
On Wednesday, Scott she was encouraged by initial returns, telling me she was “cautiously optimistic” her lead would hold.
“It’s a very, very strong first batch of numbers,” Scott said by phone. “I think it shows people are kind of ready for something different than the status quo.”
“I’m not a traditional candidate,” Scott added. “We’ve tried the same thing for so long, and have kept getting the same results — or not even the same results, things continually keep getting worse. ... I think a lot of people are ready for a change.”
Van Vechten, meanwhile, said he was disappointed by initial results. He went into the night hoping to stake out a lead that never materialized, he indicated.
On Wednesday morning, Van Vechten wasn’t ready to concede, telling me he’d monitor the next batch of results before making a decision.
Beyond the electoral number crunching, however, Van Vechten believes District 3 voters spoke loud and clear.
“There were two candidates who I think a lot of people saw a lot of good in, and a lot of energy, who could speak to a lot of frustrations that are facing,” Van Vechten said. “One thing we noticed after the primary ... was that in precincts that went for (Scott) the number one concern among the voters was housing affordability and rental issues, whereas the precincts that voted for me were overwhelmingly concerned about public safety and to a large degree homelessness. So I think what it says is District 3 is extremely concerned about the cost of living here.”
“Housing affordability is a very, very serious concern for a lot of people in this district,” he added.
“The people in charge are going to have to be aware that simply telling people that the solution to housing affordability is building more housing is not going to work — and it won’t jibe with the electorate.”
Tacoma City Council At-large Pos. 7
In the citywide race for Tacoma City Council At-large Pos. 7, there were candidates on the ballot — but, really, it was a battle of approach and perspective.
Olgy Diaz was appointed to the position in late 2022, handpicked from a large pool of applicants by the elected leaders who became her colleagues. The general election was her first chance to win support directly from the voters. A previous run for City Council, in 2013, came up short.
Kristen Wynne, on the other hand, is a local business owner whose battle cry is familiar and relatable. She cast herself as a champion for the unheard masses, and in particular those tired of the city’s failure to adequately address the crisis of homelessness and the impact it has on our neighborhoods and communities. It’s hard to blame her, even if you question her preferred approach.
In some ways, the race was a referendum, posing a straightforward question to voters:
Do you trust and support Tacoma’s current take on homelessness and public safety? Or do you long for something different — a do-over, of sorts, providing a chance to finally toughen up and get real?
Tacoma – like so many other places on God’s green earth — remains divided, at least based on initial election night results.
In one of the closest contests we saw, Wynne led Diaz by less than a percentage point, fewer than 200 votes.
If Wynne emerges victorious, it will be fascinating to see how the dynamic of Tacoma City Council changes, especially if Scott joins her on the dais.
In Seattle, early word on the street is voters have grown tired of “lefty experimentalism.”
Will Tacoma’s citywide race for at-large Pos. 7 reveal a similar trend — albeit it slight, and more complicated?
The only certainty, as of this writing, is that the next few days will be tense.
Tacoma Citizens’ Initiative Measure 1
The most important race on this year’s ballot didn’t include candidates — it was bigger than that.
At a time when far too many people are struggling to make ends meet — and increasingly being displaced by a vicious housing market that’s long been stacked against average renters — Tacoma Citizens’ Initiative Measure 1, described by supporters as a Tenant Bill of Rights, was a predictable, grassroots reaction to the crisis.
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, both sides were out in full force. Initiative 1 had the unions and progressives; the opposition was stacked by landlords and statewide advocacy groups. The bare-knuckle battle that ensued — and the money that flowed into Tacoma — simply underscored the stakes, in Tacoma and beyond.
On election night, no one was breathing easy, even if a landslide would have been a shocker.
Initiative 1 was trailing by a little more than 2% – a small deficit of 561 votes.
The initiative’s proponents remained optimistic on election night, telling The News Tribune they believe victory was in sight, confident late returns would fall in their favor.
Opponents, meanwhile, were encouraged by where things stood after the first ballot drop, describing it as a win, but also palpably teetering on pins and needles.
“It’s nerve-wracking, I’m walking around like a caged animal right now,” said Donna Walters, a Tacoma landlord.
Rest assured, Walters wasn’t alone.
Unfit candidates
It wouldn’t be a local election without a handful of candidates on the ballot who carried with them troubling implications.
In Lakewood, Paul Wagemann attempted to parlay his tenure on the Clover Park School Board into election to the City Council.
Repeatedly censured during his time on the local school board, Wagemann’s record is long on transgressions — including facing serious allegations of racism, bullying, harassment and intimidation — and short on believable, valid excuses.
Luckily for Lakewood, voters weren’t duped.
Initial results showed Wagemann down by more than 7% to newcomer Ryan Pearson, which should come as a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, in this year’s only contested Tacoma Public Schools Board race, incumbent Elizabeth Bonbright comfortably fended off a bizarre challenge from Bri’anna Wolk.
Wolk’s platform boiled down to challenging the district’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. She identifies as a “trans lesbian two-spirit indigenous woman of color,” including in online campaign information.
The first part makes Wolk’s campaign unfortunately similar to those seen in school board races across the country.
Everything about it raised serious red flags.
Faced with accusations that the choice of gender and cultural identification was disingenuous and hurtful, Wolk, who was born a white man, told The News Tribune that, if given the opportunity to identify as part of a marginalized group, “Why wouldn’t I do that?”
“If they say I can do it, I can do it,” Wolk added.
Voters saw through it, thank goodness, and it’s Tacoma school kids who stand to benefit.
Disaster and embarrassment averted — at the ballot box.
This story was originally published November 8, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
